Electrical programme-signal



(No Model..) 4 Sheets-Sheet 1. R. B. CARR.

ELEOTRIGAL PROGRAMME SIGNAL. No. 319,782. fatented June 9,1885.

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(N0 ModeL) 4 Sheets-Sheet 2. R. B. CARR.

ELECTRICAL PROGRAMME SIGNAL.

No. 319,782. Patented June 9, 1885.

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(N0 ModeL) 4 Sheets-Sheet 3.

R. B. CARR.

ELECTRICAL PROGRAMME SIGNAL. No. 319,782. Patented June 9, 1885.

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(No Model.) 4 Sheets-Sheet 4. R. B. CARR.

ELECTRICAL PROGRAMME SIGNAL.

N0. 319,782. Patented June 9, 1885.

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UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

RUFUS B. CARR, OF BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS.

ELECTRICAL PROGRAMME-SlGNAL.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 319,782, dated June 9, 1885.

Application filed May 31, 1884.

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that l, RUFUS B. CARR, of Bos ton, in the county of Suffolk and State of Massachusetts, have invented certain Improvements in Electrical ProgrammeSignals, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to a system of electric signaling by which signals maybe given in a definite order and at predetermined times; and it consists in a series of eommutators and connections through the same and appropriate switchboards, and a mechanically-impelled motor governed, preferably, by a clock and itself so actuating said connnutators that, by the co-operation of two or more of the commutators, a bell or other signal may be operated at times governed by the location of the connecting devices in said switch-boards. Devices are also added for automatically varying the programme on. certain days of the week, or, indeed, at any time.

My invention is fully set forth in the following specification and the accompanying drawings, in which Figure 1 is a front elevation of the apparatus. Fig. 2 is aside elevation of the same as viewed from the right of Fig. 1. Fig.8 is a top view of Fig. 1. Fig. 4is a view as in Fig. 1,but with the front plate removed and the works partly broken away in many places to show the parts beneath. Figs. 5, 6, 7 are detached views. Figs. 8 and 9 are diagrams of connections.

Ihe same letters of reference indicate the same parts in all the figures.

In Figs. 1, 2, 3, plates A A, held rigidly apart by suitable posts, serve as bearings for the arbors of the various wheels hereinafter described, as is usual in clock-work construction.

B is a commutator composed of a disk of insulating material secured to plate A, having inserted near its periphery contact-pins b. An arm, B, secured to shaft 13, revolves around said disk and makes rubbing contact with each of said pins in succession. O O are commutators, also secured. to plate A, and each composed of segmental plates 0, secured to an insulating-plate, but insulated from each other. Arms 0 a, secured to shafts 0 c revolve over said plates and make contact with each in suc- (No model.)

cessi on. Spur-gears or pinions D D D D D D D D Fig. 4, form a train driven by a weight or spring-actuating shaft, (Z, to which gear D is secured. As this isa motor of wellknown form, I have not thought it necessary to show the driving-weight, which is secured to drum (2', while the end of shaft (1 is squared to permit the application of a key to wind the same. An escape-wheel, F, is secured to the shaft of wheel D and the teeth of said escapewheel are engaged by pallets F on a lever, F, which is pivoted at F as shown. An armature, c, secured to said lever, is arranged to be actuated by an electro-magnet, E, and thereby allow wheel F to revolve by both connections through a battery and key being shown (in Fig. 4) as a means of operating the same; but in practice the means of closing the circuit may be a regulator-clock adapted to close the circuit at predetermined intervals, this method of governing being well known and requiring no special description beyond that given.

The pinion D of the abovedescribed train carries a fly, D to govern the movement of the train when it is released by the pallet F. The wheel 1) of the motor train meshes into two wheels, I If. Pinions I I, secured to the shafts of said wheels, transmit their motion to wheels I I, which are loose on the shafts c c and insulated therefrom, but are connected to said shafts by coiled springs Q Q in such manner that if said shafts be fixed the revolution of the wheels I I will compress said springs, and then, if said shafts be released, they will be instantaneously rotated by the force of the springs as far as permitted, thus causing the contact-arms c 0, attached to said shafts, as above described, to revolve over the commutators G O. Escape-wheels Q Q, secured to the shafts c c-,are engaged by pallets II II on levers II II which are pivoted at H. and have their upper ends connected by a crossbar, it, which is normally forced to the right by the action of the teeth of said escape-wheels, assisted by a spiral spring, h, and limited by a stop-screw, h. Alever, G, pivoted at g, has its lower end slotted at g" and arranged to engage the bar h, and its upper end formed, as shown, into a hook, g", with which a pin, 9, on

wheel D engages as said wheel turns and forces the hooked end of the-leverGtoward the right. This moves bar It toward the left, and thus actuates the pallets H and allows the escapewheels Q Q to move one step each. WVhen pin 9 passes beyond thehookcd part of lever G, it releases said lever instantaneously, and thus allows the spring 762 to force the bar h toward the right, and thus move the pallets so as to permit the wheels Q Q to move another step, the two movements of each wheel being equal to the distance from tooth to teeth; but the step or movement last described is by far the greater of the two. for purposes to be hereinafter described. The teeth of escape-wheels Q correspond in number to the segments c of the commutators G O, and hence for each tooth the arm 0, Fig. 1, will move on one segment. A pinion, J, secured to the shaft d, meshes into wheel J, and a pinion, J secured to the shaft of said wheel J, transmits its motion to wheel J On the shaft of wheel J is secured a disk, K, with a cam or projection, k, which is engaged by the free end of a lever, L, pivoted at L. The lever L and its connections are clearly shown in Figs. 4, 5, 6, the whole constituting a twopoint switch of peculiar construction, which is intended to switch the current to either of the commutators 0 O automatically, and at times governed by the proportions ofthe wheel- 1 work of the apparatus and by the shape of cam 7c. The lever L is supported by a shaft, L, the lever turning easily thereon and beinginsulated therefrom by a bushing, L A flat piece of non-conducting material, L, secured to said shaft,serves to support and insulate the two switch-springs m m which are at their upper ends arranged to make contact with lever L as it is moved relatively to said springs, as will be explained. Lever L is pressed against piece L by a spring-washer, l, so that it moves with considerable friction thereon. Lever Lis pressed to the right bya spring, L, and, as hereinbefore stated, is moved to the left by the cam It. Owing to the frictional connection between said lever L and piece U, the lever will carry said piece with it if it be free to move. The full and dotted lines in Figs. 4, 5 show the various positions into which the switch may be moved. A metallic arm, M, secured to piece L has at its lower end two inclined planes, M M, which are arranged to be engaged by a pin, m, carried by an arm, Q", which is secured to one of the shafts 0. \V hen, by the rotation of the shaft 0 the pin m is brought between the planes M M said pin will move arm M, and with it piece L and the attached springs in m", to the right or left, according to the position of the arm M, independently of lever L, and thus move one of said springs into and the other out of contact with lever Lthat is, in the position of the parts shown in Fig. 4, with cam is engaging lever L, pin at will engage plane h and move it to the left, and thus move spring m into and spring m out of cont-act with lever L; but it" the parts be as shown in Fig. 5, said pin will engage plane M and move the arm M to. the right," and thus move spring on? out of and spring in into contact withlever L.

Having described the essentially mechanical devices, I will now describe the electrical connections and the working of the various parts.

It will be convenient, for purposes of explanation, to describe the apparatus as when used for train-dispatching purposes, and in this case the arm Bof commutator B will complete its revolution in sixty minutes, and there will be sixty pins 1) in saidcommutator. The arms of connnutators O C revolve once in twenty-four hours, and there are twentyi'ou r segments on each of said commutators. The disk K will revolve once in seven days, and the projection lc thereon will occupy a little less than one-seventh of its circumference. The commutator 0 will govern the signal for Six days of the week, and commutator U will be operative only on Sunday, as hereinafter explained.

1n the diagram of connections shown in Fig. 8 the apparatus is shown in position to give signals through the commutator 0 and its electrical connections, which are arranged for Sunday use, as hereinafter described. l;leferring to said diagram, wire 1 passes from the battery through a signal-bell, and thence to lever L, and thence in theposition of parts shown in the diagram to spring m wire 2, and commutator G. The segments of said commutator each connect with a separate horizontal bar ofa switch-board, S B, (here marked as the second switch-board) while the pins of commutator B each connect with one of the vertical bars of said switeh-lmard. The contact-arms of the said commutators being in the positions shown in the diagram the circuit will be completed by wire 2, arm a, the segment 0, on which the arm 0 rests, and the connecting-wire to the bar a of the switch, through a vertical bar of the first switch-board, (which is simply a prolongation of the corresponding vertical bar of the second switch-board,) and thence to the pin b of commutator B, on which arm 13 rests, and by wire 4: back to the battery, thus ringing the bell. The hell can only ring during the time that the arm of commutator B rests on the pin 1), which time is while the arm B is moving from one posit-ion to the next; but as each pin of commutator B has a connection with one of the vertical bars of the switch-boards, and as any of the horizontal bars can be connected with any of the vertical bars thereof by pins p inserted in said bars as usual in pin switchboards, it is obvious that by a proper arrangement of pins the hell can be again sounded by the contact of the arm B with another pin 1), having connection with another vertical bar of the second switch-board, said bar being connected by a pin with the horizontal bar a. The programme for an hour (represented by the bar a) is thus fixed by connecting any de sired number of pins 1) with said bar a in the ITO manner described. As the arm 0 of comma-- tator 0 moves on one segment every hour, it is-obvious that the'next hours programme would be governed by the number and positions of the pins 1) connected with the bar a, representing the next hour, and so on through the twenty-four hours. At the end of twentyfour hours, or at the close of Sunday, the cam will have released lever L, which will be forced by the spring L to the right, carrying M to the left, so as to throw M into the path of pin m, (see Fig. 5,) and as pin on is in position to engage with one of the planes M M at this time it will then engage with plane M and force spring on out of and spring m into contact with lever L, which is held in contact with the disk K by spring L, as hereinbefore stated, and thus shift the current to commutator O, (seeFig. 8,) which has a switch-board, S B, similar to that connected with commutator 0, but having its pins 1)" differently arranged. Commutator G will govern the programme for six days, the first switchboard repeating each day the signals for which-its pins 1) are arranged. At the end of six days the projection 70 on disk K will again engage lever L and carry it into the position shown in full lines in Fig. 4; but it will be seen that by so doing it will not change the contact of the springs m m, as it is merely designed to put them in a position to be changed, the changing being performed by pin m, as in the former case, said pin engaging plane M and forcing arm M to the left, and thus bringing commutator G into circuit, as hereinbefore stated. As it is necessary that the contactarms 0 c of the commutators G 0 should move instantaneously from one to the next contact, I arrange the pallets H H of the escape-wheels connected with the said arms so that on the first half of their vibration they will permit the wheels Q Q to move only a little, and not enough to allow the commutator to leave their contacts, but on their return motion they will allow said wheels to move nearly a full tooth, and thus move the arms quickly to their next position. The arm B of commutator B is ar ranged to stop while it is between two pins b, but not touching either, its contact with each pin being made while it is moving from one position to the next, said contact being therefore brief. 1

It will be seen from the foregoing that the commutator O is simply the duplicate conimutator used as a substitute for the commutat-or O.

I do not confine myself to an electro-magnetic escapement, F F, as the escapement may be operated directly by the clock and by mechanical means.

In Figs. 7 and 9 I show a modification of the devices by which the current is shifted from one commutator to another by means of a series of switch-boards, and a commutator for switching them successively in, the result accomplished being the same as hereinbefore described.

In Figs. 7 and 9, a roller, I, of insulating material has strung upon it a series of rings, 1), relatively insulated, and with contactsprings U pressing thereon. There are as many of these rings as there are pins 1) in commutator B, and each of said pins connects with a spring, U, and hence with a ring, 1). A contact-spring, p, is secured to each one of the rings and these springs are so placed that they will make contact with the vertical bars on one of the switclrboards 0 0 0 according as the roller]? is moved. This arrangement will put each of the vertical bars on one of said switch-boards into contact with a corresponding ring, 1), and hence with a pin, 1), of com niutator B, as shown in Fig. 9. A lever, B, pivoted at r, is engaged by a cam, S, having two projections, 3 y, of unequal height, as shown in Fig. 7. Said cam is secured to a shaft, S", having an escapc-wheel, S, engaged by pawl S. A wheel, S", meshing into a pinionfl, secured to a shaft, 0 turns easily 011 shaft S, and compresses a spring, S, precisely as de scribed in connection with wheel I and shaft 0*. A pin, t, on escape-wheel Q, engages the free end of pawl S, and vibrates it once during a revolution of said wheel, thereby allowing wheel S to move one tooth. The lower end of lever B is slotted, and a pin, I, secured in crank 1 passes through said slot. Said crank is secured to roller 1 as shown, and hence as the lever It is moved it will cause roller P to turn on its axis, thereby causing spring 1) and rings 1) to move into the various positions shown in full and dotted lines in Fig. 7. A spring, w, forces the upper end of lever B toward the left, while the projections of cam S move it to the right, and by a combina tion of these two forces springs p are moved to make contact successively with the switchboards 0 0 0' each board having pins 1; arranged for a different programme. The connections used with this modification, as shown in Fig. 9, are by wire I from the battery through the bell to the arm a of commutator O; thence, with the arm in the position shown, to the upper bars on both switclrboards, and, as commutator P is moved, to circuit the first switch-board; thence by bar V, spring 1), ring 1), and wire 6, and arm B, and wire 4, to the battery. If commutator P were turned by the action of cam S to circuit the second switchboard, the current would go to said board and IOU each having a series of contacts and co-operating arms impelled at a slower rate than the arm of the first commutator, a signal device, and electrical connections,substantially as described, whereby a predetermined series of signals may be given by each successive revolution of the arm of the first commutator in connection with either of the other commutators, as set forth.

2. An electric signal apparatus comprising the following elements, viz: a commutator having a series of contacts and an arm inr pelled over the same step by step at a predetermined rate, a second commutator having aseries of contacts anda co-operating arm impelled at aslower rate than the arm of the first commutator, a substitute or duplicate commutator, electrical connections, substantially as described, between the said second and substitute commntators and the first commutator, whereby predetermined signals may be given, and automatic switching devices,whereby the second and substitute commutators are made operative alternately each for a predetermined period, as set forth.

'3. An electric signal apparatus comprising a commutator having sixty contacts and an arm moved one step in each minute over said contacts, other commutators having twentyfour contacts and arms moved over said contacts one step in each hour, switch-boards having a series of strips connected with the contacts of the first commutator, and a series of cross-strips connected with the contacts of one of the second commutators, and adjustable devices, whereby the strips of any two series may be connected in accordance with difl'ercnt predetermined programmes, as set forth.

4.. An electric signal apparatus comprising a commutator having sixty contacts and an arm moved over said contacts one step in each minute, a primary second commutator having twenty-four contacts and an arm moved over the same one step 1n each hour, a substitute or duplicate commutator, switch-boards,

constructed substantiallyas described, adapted to connect either the second or the substitute commutator with the first commutator, and automatic switching devices, substantially as described, whereby the second and substitute commutators are made operative alternately and for predetermined periods, as set forth.

5. In an electric signal apparatus, the combination of two or more commutators actuated by mechanical means and having different rates of movement, a battery, a signaling device, a mechanically-actuated cam, switching devices controlled by said cam, and two sets of prearranged electrical connections, as described, whereby a certain series of predetermined signals may be repeated one or more times and another series be automatically given at any predetermined sequence, substantially as described.

6. In an electric signal apparatus, the combination of two or more commutators arranged in separate circuits, both driven by the motor and arranged to control the circuits of signaling devices, and an electric switch actuated by the same motor and arranged to make the circuit of one and break the circuit of another of the commutators at stated intervals, as set forth.

7. In an electric signal apparatus, the combination, with a series of commutators and circuit connections, as described, of a motor, train driven thereby, a pin, 9, carried by one of the wheels of said train, a lever, G, engaged by said pin at each revolution of the wheel, and step-by-step devices actuated by said lever for operating said commutators, as set forth.

8. In an electric signal apparatus, the combination of the cam is, actuated by a motor, lever L, engaged by said cam, the pin m, moved by the same motor, and the lever M, having springs m m", and inclined planes M M engaged by the pin m, all so arranged that by the cooperation of said pin and cam the twopoint switch formed by said lever and the springs m m will be operated, as set forth.

9. I11 an electric signal apparatus, the combination of two commutator-s, G O, actuated at equal rates, as described, and a series of switch-boards connected with the same, and a third commutator adapted to circuit the switch-boards successively, as set forth.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification, in the presence of two subscribing witnesses, this 28th day of May, 188st.

RUFUS B. CARR.

W'itnesses:

O. F. BROWN, A. L. WHITE.

ICO 

